School nutrition programme of BRAC and Banchte Shekha: a baseline report

Abstract

This is a baseline study of a School Nutrition Programme (SNP) funded by Dubai Care and GAIN and implemented by two NGOs – BRAC and Banchte Shekha. The study aims to portray the elementary situation in terms of basic education and nutritional features which might create some impact as a result of this initiative. BRAC is implementing the programme in a rural and an urban areas and Banchte Shekha in a rural area. It is a one year programme – started on May/June 2012 and is expected to end on August 2013. BRAC serves 3,614 students of 23 schools in rural area and 8,444 students of 57 schools in urban area, and Banchte Shekha serves 6,208 students of 22 schools. Besides cross-sectional surveys of the students and their households and schools, it also included observation of the implementation process. The study sample was independently selected from three project sites comprised into two groups: an intervention group and a control group from each area. A proportionate sampling technique was followed to choose the respondents. Study sample includes 4,602 students from 60 schools. The findings reveal that learners of urban intervention site were relatively better in terms of their parental education and socio-economic condition of households. Nutritional and educational situation of these students were relatively better compared to the other two groups. To some extent significant difference was found between intervention and control groups in terms of learner’s performance, food security and nutritional knowledge and practices. It would require careful selection of data analysis techniques after the end-line surveys. Propensity score matching technique may be an option. It was noticed from class observation that the entire food distribution took more than 30 minutes to complete. Majority of the students were found satisfied with the initiative and their parents as well. However, monotonous food menu created dissatisfaction to a few. A diversified menu might increase their satisfaction. Adaptation of a continuous monitoring system might be helpful for both the implementing organizations to improve health and hygiene practices at student, school and household levels.